Inside the draft: The 'Grlj spill'Callum Twomey takes a closer look at the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes at the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft
By Callum Twomey
Nov 26, 2025, 6:00 am
When Richmond selected Sam Grlj with its second pick in last week's Telstra AFL Draft, it set in motion a chain of selections and consequences that saw Essendon and Melbourne land their targets, one club trade back down the order and another push up and a ripple effect that lasted until the early 20s picks.
It was not that the Grlj pick was unexpected. For a month he had been viewed as one of four leading contenders for Richmond's pair of choices, which was narrowed to three after its first pick of Sam Cumming, and rival clubs had pieced together the Tigers' interest in Grlj over the two days preceding the draft. It was just that so much hinged on Richmond's second pick through the early stages of the draft order that whichever way it went was set to cast the draft die.
It was the central pick of a first round of 25 selections with even more bluffs, bids, strategy, gameplay and tactics than before.
Here is AFL.com.au's behind-the-scenes inside story of the first round of the draft and the deals that did happen, those that fell over, what was on the mind of every club and the sliding draft moments that linked every pick to the next.
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WEST Coast had settled on Willem Duursma for some time, with his VFL performances for Casey Demons in July and August all but cementing his position there.
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter live streamed those games online from Perth and watched as Duursma's competitive edge and versatility stood out, but it was only on Wednesday afternoon, hours before the draft, that the Eagles called Duursma and his family into an apartment room in Docklands to inform him he would be their No.1 pick.
The Eagles had kept the door ajar for an offer to come for pick No.1 or No.2, but nothing had eventuated. Essendon put in a final call to the Eagles two days before the draft floating options, including two of the Bombers' three top-10 picks as a trade, but when it became clear the price for pick No.2 was going to be similar to the price of pick No.1, Essendon didn't formalise a deal proposal.
West Coast had decided it would bid on Gold Coast Academy gun Zeke Uwland and immediately follow it with another bid on Carlton father-son Harry Dean, which had both of their clubs prepared with their points.
In settling on 'Duff-ma', the Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler double, the Eagles had also let the Calder Cannons big man know about their bidding plan so he was across the strategy. He wasn't fussed what number he was selected, simply buoyed to be heading at No.4 to the Eagles, who were equally as taken by his VFL form as Duursma's late in the season when they saw him beat opponents as a forward.
Midfielder/forward Cumming and Victorian bolter Sullivan Robey were part of the Eagles' next group on the order of available non-tied prospects.
Richmond, as expected, started its draft by placing bids on Suns Academy excitement machine Dylan Patterson and then Brisbane Academy star Dan Annable. Some clubs rated Annable as the best player in the draft; others thought it could have been Patterson.
Richmond knew it wasn't getting either but wanted to make clear where the pair sat in its eyes, before grabbing its own two players, which shaped as the crucial picks in the top 10.
Five days before the draft, Tigers recruiting manager Rhy Gieschen and list manager Blair Hartley took a 1pm flight from Melbourne to Mildura in country Victoria to see Cumming and his parents. They were yet to meet the family of the hard-edged talent, and also got Cumming to drive to the airport to pick them up, so they could spend more time with him.
It was an in-and-out recruiting mission that solidified their plan he was their man and by 5pm they were back on the flight home, perusing more under-18 edits of him on the way back. Post-draft, it became clear that a number of clubs ranked Cumming a top-three talent, even winning some 'Patrick Dangerfield-like' comparisons.
Clubs were less sure about the direction of the Tigers' second choice. Along with Cumming, they had narrowed their group to four players for their two live picks: Xavier Taylor, Sullivan Robey and Grlj. All made sense – Taylor as the long-term Nick Vlastuin replacement, Robey as another midfielder after their tall-heavy 2024 draft crop and Grlj for some much-needed speed.
The Tigers' strategy was to keep quiet on their preferences so that if a club, such as Essendon or Melbourne, thought they were interested in Robey or Taylor, then they might offer 'overs' for a shift one, two, three or four spots down the draft order and still be able to get their preferred player in Grlj.
On the Tuesday before the draft, clubs begun to put that puzzle together, knowing the only player Richmond could confidently slide down and still get was Grlj. But neither Melbourne nor Essendon put forward a trade offer for either of Richmond's picks.
In fact, the only club to table a bid was Adelaide on draft night, with the Crows offering their first-round pick this year and next year for Richmond's second pick. It was a throw at the stumps the Crows knew wasn't going to strike, but they were happy to chance their arm regardless. It wouldn't dent their trade enthusiasm later in night.
Essendon, holding the next two picks, and Melbourne, the two after that, were pleased when Grlj became a Tiger.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/1456963/inside-the-draft-the-grlj-spill-sharp-chase-and-dees-perfect-pickett-plan
